IGN FilmForce Weekend Shopping Guide 8/30/02: I¿m Just a Bill

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By IGN Staff

The weekend¿s here. You¿ve just been paid, and it¿s burning a hole in your pocket. What's a pop culture geek to do?In hopes of steering you in the right direction to blow some of that hard-earned cash, it¿s time for the IGN FilmForce Weekend Shopping Guide &#Array; your spotlight on the things you didn¿t even know you wanted¿

Every once in awhile, I like to partake of books that tear to shreds the curtain separating the public from the ugly machinery that lurks behind the fa¿ade. If ever there was a man who could qualify as one of the wizards working that machinery behind Hollywood¿s curtain ( don't worry &#Array; the metaphor is over), it¿s Lew Wasserman. Wasserman¿s rise to power as the tyrannical head for over 50 years of the Music Corporation of America (MCA) is detailed in The Last Mogul (Da Capo Press, $20.00 SRP). You¿ll be astounded by just how much influence Wasserman wielded &#Array; over the likes of Brando and Spielberg &#Array; before studio politics sidelined him. Not only is this a heavily researched tome, but it¿s also the kind of book I mentioned earlier &#Array; full of the machinations that Hollywood tries to hide behind closed doors.

I'm currently on a reality-TV 12-step program, so I haven¿t caught the newest sensation sweeping our entertainment craved nation &#Array; American Idol. Even though I'm not watching, somebody is¿ A lot of somebodys, it seems. If you¿re one of those addicted fans, you might want to pick up a copy of the official book, American Idol: The Search for a Superstar (Bantam Books, $8.95 SRP). Packed with background info on the contestants, the hosts, the process, and photos, it¿s just what you¿ve been craving to hold you over until the DVDs arrive.

Words cannot express what a kick it is to re-experience a major part of one¿s childhood in pristine digital form, but that¿s the giddy, goofy fun I had while watching the complete Schoolhouse Rock! (Walt Disney, Not Rated, DVD-$29.99 SRP). Everything¿s here &#Array; from Conjunction Junction and Lolly and his Adverbs, to the Bill who wants to become a Law... all in glorious re-mastered sound and picture. If that wasn¿t enough, it¿s a two-disc set packed with bonus materials, including hidden artwork and stills, the long-lost "The Weather Show" song, the never-before-released "Scooter Computer and Mr. Chips" 4-song set, behind-the-scenes of the all-new song "I'm Gonna Send Your Vote to College" with an intro from Michael Eisner, a Top 20 countdown, "Earn Your Diploma" trivia game, Arrange-A-Song puzzles; 4 music videos by contemporary artists, an Emmy Awards featurette, the Nike commercial of "Three Is a Magic Number," and audio commentaries. Come on¿ Isn¿t that cool?

In Hopscotch (Criterion, Not Rated, DVD-$29.95 SRP), Miles Kendig (Walter Matthau) has been shunted aside by the CIA. Once one of their top international operatives, he now spends his days behind a desk &#Array; and he¿s not happy. In a bid to put himself back in the game, he decides &#Array; with the help of a Viennese widow (Glenda Jackson) &#Array; to write a memoir exposing all of the innermost secrets of every major intelligence agency in the world. Everyone wants Kendig dead &#Array; especially the CIA &#Array; but he manages to continue his fun bit of fair play in this high energy cat-and-mouse comedy. The anamorphic DVD contains a trailer & TV spot, as well as a video introduction featuring interviews with the Ronald Neame and Brian Garfield.

Johnny Dangerously (Fox, Rated PG-13, DVD-$19.98 SRP) is one of those goofball ¿80s flicks that I simply can¿t help but adore &#Array; it¿s just so ludicrous that it¿s utterly endearing. It's also one of those films that used to air endlessly on cable. Michael Keaton stars as Johnny, a devoted son who enters a life of crime in order to pay for his mother¿s escalating medical bills in 1930¿s New York. Eventually, he becomes the kingpin &#Array; with a rival (Joe Piscopo) gunning for him, a corrupt DA (Danny DeVito) defending him, a steamy torch singer (Marilu Henner) seducing him, and a straight-arrow brother (Griffin Dunne) who may be his undoing. It's an absurd, pitch-perfect parody of those 1930s gangster flicks, and well worth checking out. The anamorphic DVD contains the original theatrical trailer.

You know, every once in awhile, ya just gotta watch a bad movie. Not just your run-of-the-mill bad movie, mind you, but a real stinkburger. Something so laughably bad that you can¿t help but revel in its awfulness. Thankfully, Queen of the Damned (Warner Bros., Rated R, DVD-$26.98 SRP) fits that criteria to a ¿T.¿ Not only is this a horribly bad vampire movie, but it¿s also a horribly bad Anne Rice vampire movie. The term ¿schlock¿ doesn't even begin to approach how awkward this flick is &#Array; so I recommend it wholeheartedly. Why? Because it¿s worth every dollar for allowing you, the viewer, to laugh a little¿ Or quite a bit, actually. The anamorphic DVD contains an audio commentary with director Michael Rymer and producer Jorge Saralegui, 3 Making-of documentaries ("Aaliyah Remembered", "Creating the Vampires" and "The Music of Lestat"), 30 minutes of additional scenes, a gag reel, 3 Lestat music videos ("Forsaken," "Redeemer" and "System"), the Static X music video "Cold," extended "Slept So Song" and "Not Meant For Me" concert sequences, trailer, and production stills.

I was never a really big fan of C.S. Lewis¿ tales of Narnia &#Array; I always felt that its metaphor was far too ponderous and heavy-handed. Still, I know that his works have a huge following¿ a following that I'm sure will delight in the DVD release of the BBC¿s lavish (by BBC standards) live-action adaptation of the first three books in the Chronicles of Narnia (Home Vision, Not Rated, DVD-$69.95 SRP) &#Array; The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, Prince Caspian and the Voyage of the Dawn Treader, and The Silver Chair. The DVDs contain an interactive trivia game, an excerpt on C.S. Lewis from the BBC literary magazine Bookworm, a recipe for Turkish Delight, and a stills gallery.

It's nice to revisit a time when John Carpenter knew how to direct movies¿ A time before Vampires or¿ brrrr¿ Ghosts of Mars. While not his best film (for me, a toss-up between Big Trouble in Little China and The Thing), The Fog (MGM/UA, Rated R, DVD-$19.98 SRP) is a very nice horror thriller in the classic vein. There¿s very little gore &#Array; almost negligible, really &#Array; but there are scares and atmosphere aplenty, as a small coastal town is haunted by its past in the form of ghostly apparitions contained within a mysterious fog. The cast is nothing to shake a stick at, either, with Hal Holbrook, Jamie Lee Curtis, Adrienne Barbeau, Janet Leigh, and even John Houseman. The anamorphic DVD contains an audio commentary with Carpenter and co-writer/producer Debra Hill, a brand new retrospective documentary, the original 1980 making-of featurette, outtakes, storyboard comparisons, an advertising gallery, and trailers. So pick this up along with Big Trouble, The Thing, Escape from New York, and They Live and make a weekend out of old school Carpenter.And if you want to spend a weekend like I did recently, then you should definitely look into having a ¿kitschy childhood favorites that hold up poorly but still delight¿ weekend. What exactly did I watch? Well, my little marathon began with the Ray Harryhausen ¿classic¿ Clash of the Titans (Warner Bros., Rated PG, DVD-$19.98 SRP), which also includes a conversation with Harryhausen as a bonus feature. It's certainly a change seeing this mythological mish-mash in glorious anamorphic widescreen. Next up, I stuck in Wolfen (Warner Bros., Rated R, DVD-$19.98 SRP), a funky little film about nature¿s supernatural retaliation against the encroachment of civilization¿ in New York City. Speaking of nature, I snuck a little double feature into my marathon &#Array; The Swarm (Warner Bros., Not Rated, DVD-$19.98 SRP) and Them (Warner Bros., Not Rated, DVD-$19.98 SRP). One is disaster-meister Irwin Allen¿s take on killer bees, and the other is a ¿50s masterpiece about giant ants. Both discs contain behind-the-scenes materials and trailers, and both films are schlocky delights. Seeking to crank up the junk food factor, Exorcist II: The Heretic (Warner Bros., Rated R, DVD-$19.98 SRP) found its way in &#Array; and boy, there's nothing like a completely off-base sequel to a classic film to get the blood pumping. Not only is it a bad flick, but it¿s a disturbingly twisted &#Array; and eminently fun &#Array; bad flick¿ Almost on par with Queen of the Damned. The anamorphic DVD also contains an alternate opening sequence. For my penultimate choice, it had to be V: The Final Battle (Warner Bros., Not Rated, DVD-$24.98 SRP). Spanning two discs, the entire mini-series is here in anamorphic widescreen (!) &#Array; a mini-series that struggled to live up to the promise of the original V. It didn¿t¿ But it¿s fun to watch them try. As the dawn was breaking, I decided to end with a flourish &#Array; a film that is actually great, with no reservations whatsoever. Time After Time (Warner Bros., Rated PG, DVD-$19.98 SRP) is writer-director Nicholas Meyer¿s unique tale that casts Jack the Ripper as a vicious murderer who steals H.G. Wells¿ time machine and escapes to the future &#Array; our present &#Array; with Wells in pursuit. If you need an assurance about Meyer¿s abilities, remember this &#Array; he¿s the guy behind the best of the Star Trek films, The Wrath of Khan. The anamorphic DVD contains an audio commentary with Meyer and star Malcolm McDowell, an essay, and trailers.

Speaking of Schoolhouse Rock and childhood memories, how can you possibly pass up picking up a copy of the Schoolhouse Rock boxed set (Rhino, $49.98 SRP), containing all those educational tunes that I know you can¿t get out of your head since reading the DVD review above. If you¿re on a budget and just want the ¿cream of the crop,¿ as it were, you can pick up The Best of Schoolhouse Rock (Rhino, $17.98 SRP). ¿Three, is a magic number¿¿

If you read out spotlight on Cranium a few months back (or you¿ve actually played it), then you¿ll know how much I love this game. The only problem I ever ran into while trying to play the game, however, is when I wanted to play with less than four people. Responding to this concern from fans (dubbed ¿Craniacs¿), there's now Cranium: Hoopla ($19.95 SRP). It's just as exciting as the original Cranium, but with half the people. There¿s a mathematical joke in there somewhere, but I'm just too tired to find it.

So there you have it¿ my humble suggestions for what to watch, listen to, play with, or waste money on this coming weekend. Be sure to check back next week for a whole new list of cash-sapping trinkets too cool to ignore¿